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Open Recommendations

K-12 Education: Actions to Improve Oversight of Key Federal Programs and Address High Chronic Absenteeism
GAO-26-107920
Sep 23, 2026
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should promptly resume more comprehensive monitoring to better ensure states are meeting ESEA fiscal and programmatic requirements. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should require that states report the number of students who are enrolled in each school in a way that matches how it requires states to report chronic absenteeism counts so that it can calculate reliable chronic absenteeism rates. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should provide guidance on how states should report chronic absenteeism data for shared-timed schools to ensure consistent reporting among states. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Congress Congress should consider clearly articulating ESEA monitoring requirements to help ensure that the federal government's approach to monitoring ESEA programs will ensure compliance with federal requirements and deter waste, fraud and abuse with respect to these funds, as intended by the ESEA. (Matter for Consideration 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

High School Aviation Maintenance Programs: FAA Should Assess Expanding Access to the Mechanic Knowledge Test
GAO-26-108303
Sep 01, 2026
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Aviation Administration The FAA Administrator should establish a group of industry stakeholders and aviation experts to assess whether high school students, upon successful completion of aviation maintenance curricula at uncertificated schools, should be allowed to take the general written knowledge test. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

K-12 Education: Improved Oversight Could Help DOD Schools Better Support Students with Literacy and Math Skill Deficits
GAO-26-108038
Aug 26, 2026
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8 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DODEA Director eliminates gaps in DODEA's current approach to screening students for literacy and math deficits. This could include adopting screening tools that assess foundational phonic skills in elementary school and expanding access to existing screeners that are currently only available to middle and high school students already receiving strategic literacy or math instruction. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DODEA Director analyzes data on the reasons why Student Support Teams reject referrals for students who may benefit from additional literacy and math support and use this information to better ensure the completeness, quality, and timeliness of referrals. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DODEA Director identifies referrals for special education that have been rejected due to poor quality or incomplete information and use the results to improve the completeness and quality of referrals systemwide. For example, by identifying the districts with the highest rejection rates using available data in its special education information system, DODEA could identify common patterns for rejections due to poor quality or incomplete data and take achievable steps to improve the quality of the referrals. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DODEA Director analyzes factors within its control contributing to delays in the special education evaluation process and take appropriate steps to address them. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DODEA Director clarifies that feedback forms provided to strategic instruction and special education teachers at the end of agency-wide professional learning sessions are designed for general feedback about these teachers' future professional learning needs and use this feedback to inform future professional learning offerings. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the DODEA Director ensures that special education teachers who teach students needing specialized reading interventions receive the professional learning necessary to teach these interventions with fidelity. This should include systemwide monitoring of teacher certifications for specialized reading interventions, as well as associated training rates. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Student Loans: Education Could Better Coordinate with Servicers When Making Program Changes
GAO-26-107780
Aug 06, 2026
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should ensure that Federal Student Aid develops and implements formal criteria for determining when to conduct early coordination with servicers. For example, when dealing with complex changes or tight time frames, Education could consider if early coordination with servicers could ease implementation challenges. (Recommendation 1)
Open
Education disagreed with this recommendation. Education stated that establishing such criteria would be detrimental to the agency and servicers' ability to implement changes in a timely and efficient manner while also being responsive to dynamic administration priorities. The agency also stated that establishing formal criteria would create challenges and risks that could negatively impact the agency and servicers. GAO believes, however, that having formal criteria for early coordination would help Education ensure servicers have the information they need to implement changes in a timely and efficient manner, while providing needed flexibility to respond to changing circumstances. Using such criteria would positively impact Education and servicers. We will monitor the agency's efforts.
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